Sleep Over or Hang Out
by jylener22
Summary: Just a simple story about Rukia, Orihime and Tatsuki having a sleepover and spending some quality time together as friends.


Sleeping Over or Hanging Out

"If I understand your request correctly, you are asking for permission to go into the World of the Living in order to visit with the human girl, Orihime, and her friend."

"Correct, Brother."

"You will remain there for the duration of one afternoon, evening, night and early morning with the two human females and after which, you will then return to Soul Society."

"Correct, Brother."

"While staying with Orihime and her friend, you will ask to be temporarily relieved from active duty and only to be contacted when there is an emergency."

"Yes, Brother."

"And the reason you are requesting this brief leave of absence is so that you may…what was the phrase again?"

"'Hang out', Brother."

"Ah, yes. You wish to 'hang out' and have a 'slumber party' with these human girls, am I correct?"

"Absolutely, Brother. That is exactly what I am requesting."

"Now that I have the facts straight, I assume that you have made the same request from Captain Ukitake and received his permission."

"Yes, Brother. When I made the request, Captain Ukitake was most generous, enthusiastic and adamant in his desire that I should 'have fun with girls near my own age'."

"Well, that is certainly one way of putting it since you are a fairly young Soul Reaper."

"I-I-I am flattered, Brother."

"I speak only what is fact, nothing more. Anyway, should I give my own permission for you to attend this 'slumber party', I can only imagine that a young woman of your position will compose herself in a manner that upholds not only your Squad's honor, but also the honor of the Kuchiki name and legacy."

"Absolutely, Brother. You may depend upon it."

"Then, with that being said, I see no reason as to why you shouldn't prepare your belongings for your journey. I will see you again when you arrive home tomorrow."

"Thank you, Brother."

-

Taking a moment to look down at her clothes and make sure they were all neatly in place, taking a firmer grip on her baggage and adjusting herself slightly within her gegai, Rukia continued making her way through the streets of Karakura towards Tatsuki's home. It had been decided that since the Arisawa family was taking a five day vacation that summer without Tatsuki (because she had to train even harder for an upcoming tournament) that the girls would have their slumber party at the Arisawa house rather than Orihime's small apartment.

When Rukia had first received the invitation via Urahara's Ultra-Special and Speedy Mail Delivery Service, she had had to ask around to figure out just what she had been invited too. Apparently, Orihime had planned this sleepover in a rather belated celebration of Tatsuki's birthday since it was almost the end of July. However, because Rukia didn't really know Tatsuki, Orihime had made it quite clear in the invitation that Rukia was under no obligation to bring any presents or anything like that. Orihime was going to take care of everything and all Rukia needed to do was just let her know whether or not she could make it. Not only had Rukia been invited, but Rangiku, Nemu, Momo and Nanao as well, but either the girls had not been able to acquire permission to leave from their Captains or had had prior engagements, so only Rukia was left and able to come.

Looking down at the slip of paper in her hand to check the directions, Rukia examined the addresses on the mailboxes and realized that she was already only two houses away from the one she was looking for. Before she made her way up the driveway, Rukia once more made absolutely sure that she looked presentable and like an actual human girl.

Per Rukia's request, Rangiku had helped to select the outfit Rukia was currently wearing, which consisted of a short dress/shirt that barely reached mid-thigh, a pair of leggings underneath and ballet slipper shoes. Rangiku had tried to convince Rukia to wear lots of jewelry that consisted enormous earrings (clip-on of course), sparkly bracelets and necklaces that were covered with charms, but Rukia had only settled for a single bracelet and one barely enhanced necklace to match.

As Rukia approached the front door, she mentally tried to check off in her mind that she had brought everything Orihime said she would need for this sleepover. Standing and reaching out her hand to ring the doorbell, Rukia determined that she had packed everything necessary and was about to press the small buzzer when the door suddenly flew open.

"You're here!" cried Orihime as she threw her arms open to engulf Rukia in an enthusiastic hug, "You made it! I'm so glad you came!"

Returning Orihime's hug, Rukia grinned and said, "It's good to see you too, Orihime. Thank you for inviting me."

Pulling back, Orihime giggled and said, "Come on in! Tatsuki's sitting in the living room and," at this point, Orihime quickly reached around and snatched Rukia's baggage before she could protest, "I'll just put your things away while you go on in and chat with Tatsuki for a few minutes."

The next moment, Orihime was gone and Rukia turned to make her way into the room Orihime had indicated. Upon entering the living room, Rukia saw Tatsuki sitting on one of the couches.

Rukia was about to formally express her gratitude to Tatsuki for allowing her to come over, but only got as far as beginning to bow when Tatsuki scowled at her and asked incredulously, "What the heck are you doing?!"

Too surprised to answer, Rukia said nothing as Tatsuki went on, "If you're thinking about getting all formal with me, think again. It might have been a while ago, but we went to the same school and ate lunch together."

Getting up off the couch, Tatsuki looked Rukia square in the eyes as she said, "You may be a Soul Reaper and a whole lot older than me, but you certainly don't look like my old grandma so don't act like her."

"Okay," said Rukia slowly before she asked, "So then, how should I greet you and express my thanks then?"

Smirking, Tatsuki replied, "I usually don't do this with anyone other than Orihime sometimes and my own family, but in your case I'll make an exception," and so pulled Rukia into a very brief hug.

The next moment, Orihime entered the room, clapped her hands excitedly and said, "Oh, we're going to have so much fun tonight! Now that you two have gotten reacquainted, let's go to the kitchen and get this party started!"

Tatsuki and Rukia followed Orihime into the kitchen and saw that she had laid out all the ingredients to make a sukiyaki. Working together to prepare the vegetables, tofu, meat, eggs and so on, it wasn't long before the dinner was finished and they were all sitting around the table talking and laughing as they enjoyed the meal they had made together. When they had eaten their fill, they then worked together as a team to take care of the leftovers, wash and put away the dishes and make sure the kitchen was clean before they moved into the next room in order to settle down and watch some movies.

Since Tatsuki was the 'birthday girl', she got to choose the first movie, which turned out to be a 'shoot-em-up' and 'blow-em-up' and 'kick-each-others-butts' kind of movie. During the really intense fighting sequences, Tatsuki would either lean forward and start yelling encouragement and advice to the fighters or else slouch into the couch and gripe about how 'unrealistic' their fighting techniques were.

Once that movie was over, Orihime got up in order to make two huge bowls of popcorn and bring over different toppings that they could put on top of their share. Tatsuki settled for a bit of butter, pepper and salt on hers, Rukia put butter on half and drizzled a little honey on the other half, whereas Orihime topped hers with honey, salt and some nuts a just a light coating of butter.

While they were enjoying their popcorn, at Tatsuki and Orihime's insistence, Rukia chose a romantic movie. Even though Tatsuki never said a word of protest, out of the corner of her eye, Rukia saw the tough girl roll her eyes at a few of the movie's lines, such as 'I'll love you until the day I die, then I will be reborn again, find you, and fall in love all over again'. Orihime seemed to enjoy the movie and Rukia thought it was pretty good, however, she thought that the main female character's best friend really needed to give her friend better dating advice. At one point, the best friend convinced the girl that if the guy she was dating didn't compliment her on how she looked or tell her he loved her at least once every time they got together, then he was probably cheating on her. In the end, everything turned out all right and Rukia inwardly sighed in satisfaction at how true love managed to survive once again.

Even though it was quite late, after the popcorn supplies were put away and the girls had gotten themselves ready for bed, Orihime asked if Tatsuki and Rukia would be up for watching one more movie. They agreed and so Orihime excitedly put in a horror/thriller movie about zombie aliens attacking a futuristic earth. Rukia had never seen anything that bizarre in her whole life, and that was saying something. Whenever Orihime jumped at one of the intense or scary parts, because she was sitting in between Rukia and Tatsuki, they also jumped and felt their hearts race.

At one point, Tatsuki whispered over to Rukia, "I wouldn't jump nearly as much during this movie if Orihime weren't here. She scares me worse than the movie when she jumps like that."

Rukia grinned and was about to whisper back when Orihime gave an especially violent start when a zombie alien poked its head out of a toilet and snapped at a girl who was trying to clamber on top of said toilet.

Despite all the frightening and jump worthy moments in the movie, eventually, the boring plotline and equally snore worthy dialogue and acting skills lulled all three girls into a deep sleep one after the other. Tatsuki awoke just long enough to see the credits rolling and so reached over to grab the remote, turn off the TV, make sure both Orihime and Rukia were covered by their blankets, settle herself more comfortably on the couch and then fell asleep again.

In the morning, Rukia awoke and found herself leaning against Orihime on one side, while Orihime's head rested on Tatsuki's shoulder. It wasn't long before all three girls were up, stretching lazily and making their way into the kitchen in order to make something for breakfast. Orihime did most of the talking, telling Tatsuki and Rukia about her strange dreams of zombie construction workers coming into Karakura Town in order to blow up the schools in order to make sure that no one could learn anything and therefore cause everyone's brains would be soft, easily manipulated and tastier than other kinds of brains.

All too soon, or so it seemed to Rukia, her things were packed and she was preparing to head home. Orihime was also standing at the door getting ready to say her good-byes to Tatsuki and began by hugging Tatsuki first before turning to Rukia.

"This was so much fun!"

Rukia smiled and said, "It was fun."

Tatsuki grinned as well before saying, "Yeah. We should do this again sometime."

Orihime squealed and said, "That's a great idea! Maybe next time we could have a kind of spa theme! We could paint each other's nails, try out different hair styles on each other and all sorts of other things!"

When she looked at Rukia with shining eyes, Rukia replied, "That does sound delightful."

After about five minutes of Orihime gushing about all the different things they could do the next time they hung out, everyone parted ways with assurances that they would see each other again really soon.

-

"I have returned, Brother."

"Hmm. So I see. Were the human girls hospitable?"

"Yes Brother. Both Tatsuki and Orihime were kind to me in every way possible."

"Good. And was your experience there during your 'sleepover' pleasant?"

"Yes Brother. In fact, we discussed the possibility of having another hang out time sometime in the future."

"I see."

"That is, only if you give your permission, Brother, and if I can fulfill my duties to Captain Ukitake so that I will not overburden him, of course."

"Hmm. When these girls contact you for another 'sleepover', be sure to suggest that you could be the hostess this time."

"Brother?"

"From what you've told me, these girls were pleasant hostesses. However, a member of the Kuchiki clan should always extend an invitation to reciprocate excellent hospitality the next time a get together is held."

"I understand Brother. I will be sure to do so."

"Very good. I believe the only other piece of information I need to relay to you is that Captain Ukitake expressly forbids you from going back to your duties today. When you arrive tomorrow morning, he also expects you to give him a full report as to how you 'had fun with the girls'."

"Y-y-yes Brother. Thank you for telling me."

"You may go now."

Because Rukia left the room so hastily after Byakuya dismissed her, she missed seeing the tiniest hint of a smile softening the corners of Byakuya's lips.

**Author's Note:**

This story came out of my desire for Kubo to develop the relationship between these girls a little more, especially Rukia and Orihime. To my way of thinking, before Orihime came along, all of Rukia friends/nakama/acquaintances/family were guys (Renji, the other Rukongai kids, Byakuya, Ukitake, Kaien) with only a few exceptions. Orihime was Rukia's first, real, honest to goodness best female friend. So I decided to have the two of them hang out together with Tatsuki and just have fun together as girls.

I didn't put in tons of dialogue during certain parts of the story and I hope you guys didn't mind. At one point, I thought about maybe having a few party crashers like Hiyori and Rangiku join them, but I didn't want this to become a chapter story, so I just kept things simple.

Hope you liked it!


End file.
